New Equipment Cleans Up Orchard Fruit

New Equipment Cleans Up Orchard Fruit CROPS Miscellaneous Owners of medium-size orchards interested in cleaning up fallen fruit quickly should check out the Austrian-made Huemer Fruit Harvesting Machines Made of stainless steel and other quality materials the equipment is designed to last for years and is available through Ruralistic a Nebraska distributor Craig Dick president of the company needed a harvester for his own acreage that had about 10 acres of apple trees “In my research I didn’t find anything like it Other options were for just a couple of trees or designed for large acreages ” he says From $2 200 to $4 200 Huemer models fit mid-size operations The equipment works on soft-skinned fruit including apples peaches pears apricots and plums “It has very few moving parts A rotating drum with spikes rolls over the fruit and punctures it ” Dick says The fruit drops into a 3-gal bucket Because it is punctured the fruit needs to be used within a day or fed to livestock Customers include cideries as well as an orchard owner who sells fallen apples for livestock feed “The nice thing is that the metal parts where the fruit touches it are stainless steel So it cleans up well and you can sanitize it ” Dick says of the harvester At the top end Huemer offers a 55-in wide harvester with 3 buckets that can be pushed with a compact tractor All the harvesters come with 2 sets of buckets and a 2-year warranty The handle of the push models can be adjusted in 3 positions and the tires are similar to bicycle tires “I’ve been blown away about how simple and well they work ” Dick says “I cleaned up about a 1/2-acre in 30 minutes ” Through the end of 2020 he is offering discounts for pre-orders for 2021 Check out YouTube for videos of the Huemer harvesters in action Ruralistic Huemer Type 1500 and Type 800 Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Craig Dick Ruralistic 23180 S 68th St Hickman Neb 68372 ph 515 240-3347; www ruralistic co; cmd@ruralistic co

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